Napoleonic bring and play - Some impressions of an epic gaming day

On Saturday some chaps and me met for a spontaneous and uncomplicated Napoleonic Black Powder game. Boiled down to the essence we simly agreed to bring the troops we wanted to play and constructed two equal armies. One of course the French forces with some allies like Saxon and Westphalian troops and on the other side British and Prussian forces. So we started at nine in the morning and arranged an enormous table with a couple of tables and a ping-pong table. We played until evening and the game didn't find a clear winner unfortunately. But nevertheless we had a great time and actually that was all this day was about.

Although a complete AAR is rather difficult I want to share some impressions of the game with you:

Marshall Davout gathers his division.

Simultaneously the Light Cavalry of the Guard arrives out of nowhere.

To balance the forces slightly we used the point system from "Albion Triumphant - Vol. II". Each of the armies had about 2,100 points.

The French forces marching on...

... and their allied counterparts.

I commanded some British and Hanoverian forces most of with advanced on and along the road.

To have enough room to manoeuvre all the troops we needed a large table. But on the other hand we had to be able to reach into the middle of the table. So we arranged them as a cross of tables. There the French got the first turn and unfolded very well. The lucky frogs past all their command rolls during this phase of the game...

The French dashing into the centre of the table.

They seem to be fear not being prepared to cross rivers since their experience in Russia...

But nevertheless they rely on their line infantry.

The Polish brigade marches steadily.

On the other side of the table we allies were slower unfortunately. Especially my Prussian allies failed several command rolls and slowed us down.

Blücher and his troops get mixed up.

The French light cavalry of the guard pushed forward into the center of the field.

Meanwhile the first Prussians make up some ground.

A French general lost touch to his cuirassiers that got scattered by Prussian musket volleys.

The allies still trying to enter the center part of the table to unfold.

But only single Prussian units are successful and threatened by French cavalry at once.

The Prussian right wing and center blocked by a defiant cavalry brigade as well as a disobedient infantry brigade.

The French tropps - Westphalians here - try to tie up their opponents.

But finally British cavalry reaches the field of glory - Now Scots Greys !

And at least some movement in the center of the allies.

Unfortunately we didn't reach a decision until the end of the day. Although the French had an excellent position in the middle of the battlefield there were several scenes which were dominated by the allies. Some Prussian units proved tougher than expected and Prussian and British heavy cavalry descended upon the French simultaneously hitting their horse artillery and light cavalry heavily.

The battlefield during the end of the game.

Anyway at the end of the day we all had a good time and we all had successful as well as disappointing moments. An excellent day with the chaps and nobody missed those detailed scenarios and well prepared games we used to play most of the time. Just plain and simple fun this time.